Tag Archives: F15-SE

The luster is off, many of my more elite fellow bloggers on US / Israeli relations are coming to grips with the unfriendly atmosphere now prevailing in what President Obama just yesterday termed a ‘stalwart alliance’ between Israel & the US. Blah blah blah, just words. This President is a talker all right, on the topic of whether or not he’s a doer however it is becoming ever more clear that he reserves action only for Israel, everyone else gets a free pass.

Government sources said the administration has held up Israel’s request for the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter. The sources said the request was undergoing an interagency review to determine whether additional Longbow helicopters would threaten Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. [...]

Yeah, we know. Drastically reduced cooperation, ignoring existential threats, reaching out to America’s enemies at the expense of her allies. All part of the pressure gambit to wring concessions out of Israel to pay off the Muslim outreach program, which so far appears to be the only thing (other than spending trillions of dollars of debt) the President seems to actually care about.

JSF / F15SE / Apache Longbow – What’s next?

IDF Apaches in formation

The list of off limits hardware is growing, now the Apache Longbows have been added despite the fact Israel already flies them. Since most of the F35 JSF is already off limits to us, the new Boeing F15SE has been sought as a possible option by Israel – But that is also seemingly not in the cards. The F15SE was designed by Boeing specifically for export because it has no slot in US defense plans since its missions are already covered by other platforms, it is an upgrade path for international customers flying Eagles. Which makes statements by the Administration to the effect that the F15SE is not cleared for ‘foreign military sales’ curious indeed..

Administration sources said the White House has drafted measures that could prevent Israel and other non-NATO allies from procuring U.S. fighter-jets, including the F-35. They said the administration would require that Israel obtain special permission from the Defense Department and State Department to acquire the Joint Strike Fighter. The administration has also been resisting Israeli requests for technical data on the new F-15SE fighter-jet. [...]

The sources said the State Department has been delaying Israeli requests for pre-export licenses required for an examination of the new generation F-15.

The sources said the administration has not approved the new F-15 for the Foreign Military Sales program. They said this could prevent Israel from using U.S. military aid to purchase the aircraft from Boeing. “This is a legal issue,” a source said. “The F-15SE might not qualify for FMS.”

Stalwart allies. We are not even allowed to evaluate the Boeing fighter! Boeing must be thrilled with the Obama administration’s stimulus efforts so far since the Apaches & F-15s are part of the company’s stable of military hardware. I’m still wrestling with how the math for this works but I’m guessing Robert Gibbs will soon tell us that halting all these sales from Boeing to Israel is good for the company’s bottom line in the recession and will ‘create jobs’.

The noose is around Israel’s neck and is tightening while Obama courts and appeases his one true love, the Arabs & the Palestinians and every dictator, socialist, and isolated rogue regime on the planet. This is change all right, everything else is ‘just words’.